Improving Soil Fertility and Crops Yields through Organic and inorganic inputs in Smallholder Farmers’ fields in Western Kenya

Abstract

Organic (FYM) and inorganic (Mavuno) manure and their combination were evaluated on sorghum grain yields and some soil chemical characteristics in the 2016 SR and 2017 LR growing seasons FYM, Mavuno and or their combinations significantly (p<0.05) increased soil N, P and pH in the immediate and residual seasons. The sorghum grain yields trends for Busia site were such that: (FYM + Mavuno) >FYM>Mavuno>Control with (1.36, 1.29, 1.19 and 0.35) t ha-1 respectively in 2016 short rains season. The sorghum grain yield trends for 2017 long rains were as follows: (Mavuno) >(FYM=Mavuno)with same yields>Control giving (2.28, 2.17, 2.17 and 1.67) t ha-1 respectively. The grain yields for Teso site were: (FYM + Mavuno) >FYM>Mavuno>Control that resulted into (1.65, 1.49, 1.11 and 0.34) t ha-1 sorghum grain yields respectively in 2016 SR and (FYM+Mavuno) >FYM>Mavuno>Control giving (2.86, 2.79, 2.76 and 1.59) t ha-1 respectively for 2017 LR cropping seasons. All treatments resulted in significantly higher nutrient concentrations in the soil above the control with FYM (5.32,Mavuno (5.31),FYM+Mavuno(5.20) and Control (4.45) in 2016 SR and FYM (5.15),Mavuno (5.20),FYM+Mavuno(5.23) and Control (5.06) in 2017 LR for Busia. Teso had a similar trend with FYM (5.55),Mavuno (5.21),FYM+Mavuno (5.28) and Control (4.42) in 2016 SR and FYM (5.64),Mavuno (5.65),FYM+Mavuno(5.55) and Control (5.36) in 2017 LR .Soil pH, due to its effect on nutrient availability contributed to higher soil total N, P contents due to treatments application. Therefore, FYM, Mavuno and their combination can improve sorghum grain yield on nutrient deficient smallholder farms. Keywords: Fertilizer, Sorghum, soil fertility